Poem: A Bridge across

A Bridge across

There you are,

And you have gone wandering,

And reach a road or railway line in your path,

Or a river you must cross,

Then it is a bridge you’d use to walk across.

Though bridges, they need not just be structures,

They signify a stark contrast that must be resolved,

Like the bridge between the rich and poor,

Or it might refer to a special connection,

Like the Bridge between two minds.

Bridges have always helped connect,

Anyone who may have wanted to travel across.

And they have been built for centuries,

Right from Lord Ram to cross the shore,

And later perfected by the men in Rome.

The started off as simple logs of wood,

And then advanced into beams, suspensions, arcs and cables,

A bridge is a symbol or transience,

A part of a journey from one place to another,

Taking an inspiration thus,

King Akbar has had engraved,

A quote at the Fathepur Skiri’s Buland Darwaza,

(His Gate of Victory),

"Jesus, Son of Mary (on whom be peace) said:

The World is a Bridge,

Pass over it, but build no houses upon it.

He who hopes for a day,

May hope for eternity; but the World endures but an hour.

Spend it in prayer, for the rest is unseen."

Mukund Palat Rao

(February 7, 2011)

P.S: King Akbar did have a lot many ideas, it is a pity though that not every one of them succeeded. A good example was the Din-i-Illahi which he proposed as a new syncretic order.